Trump's Cabinet picks could be problematic in light of the Russia hacking investigation

Rex
Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, listens to speakers on
September 23, 2009 on a panel at the Clinton Global Initiative
(CGI) in New York, New York. The Fifth Annual Meeting of the
Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) looks to gather prominent
individuals in politics, business, science, academics and
religion to discuss global issues such as climate change and
peace in the Middle East. The event, founded by former president
Bill Clinton after he left office, is held the same week as the
General Assembly at the United Nations as most world leaders are
in New York.Spencer Platt/Getty
Images

Unhappy with conflicting reports about Russian interference in
the presidential election that have been leaked to the news
media, the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence has demanded an explanation from James Clapper, the
Director of National Intelligence, setting the stage for a tense
few days on Capitol Hill.

Prior to the election, the Intelligence Community, loosely
organized under the DNI, issued a joint statement saying that the
agencies were confident that computer hackers who stole
information from the Democratic National Committee and
high-ranking individual Democrats were working at the direction
of the Kremlin. At the time, the effort was characterized as an
attempt to “interfere with the U.S. election process.”

Late last week, though, a report
in TheNew York Times cited
unnamed sources within the Central Intelligence Agency that
claimed their analysis had reached a further conclusion: that
Russia had specifically intended, through its hacking operation,
to help Donald Trump win the presidential election. The finding
was apparently bolstered by evidence -- again from unnamed
sources -- that hackers had gained access to the Republican
National Committee’s computer system as well as the DNC’s, but
had not released any information from it. (The RNC has strongly
denied that its systems were compromised.)

It was an explosive allegation that would undercut the legitimacy
of the incoming administration, and President-elect Trump
immediately pushed back against it, denigrating the competence of
the CIA in an official statement from his transition team, and
unequivocally denying that the RNC had been hacked.

Michael
Flynn.Drew Angerer/Getty
Images

While it is manifestly in his self-interest for Trump to
dismiss the intelligence community as partisan, his views on the
politicization of intelligence, particularly by the CIA, may run
deeper. His pick for National Security Adviser, retired Army
General Michael Flynn, is an outspoken critic of the U.S.
intelligence services as a whole. In an interview
with TheNew York Times last
year, Flynn blasted the CIA in particular, suggesting it has come
to see itself as a tool of the White House, rather than a
provider of independent analysis.“They work for the American
people. They don’t work for the president of the United States,"
Flynn said. “Frankly, it’s become a very political organization.”

Later reports citing sources within the Federal Bureau of
Investigation suggested that the CIA’s conclusion was not
unanimously shared within the Intelligence Community. The FBI,
the unnamed sources reported, did not share the CIA’s confidence
about Russia’s specific motives in sponsoring the hacking.

The letter from House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes
expresses frustration with DNI Clapper, and demands clarification
by the end of this week.

“In light of the Committee's robust oversight
efforts on these issues, I was dismayed that we did not learn
earlier, from you directly, about the reported conflicting
assessments and the CIA’s reported revision of information
previously conveyed to this Committee,” the letter reads. “The
Committee, therefore, has an urgent need to accurately understand
the current IC assessment of alleged Russian cyber activities
relating to the election, and any disagreements among IC
components.”

Reuters

The letter goes on to demand a briefing and a written statement,
by the end of the week, clarifying the position of the IC.
Additionally, Nunes cited his concern about the leaks to the
press and demanded an assessment of whether or not
classified material was supplied to reporters.

The Nunes letter comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time in
Washington.

In one of the first major rifts between President-elect Trump and
senior Republicans in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell on Monday publicly backed a call by a bipartisan group
of senators for a full investigation into Russian interference in
the election.

(Nunes, by contrast, said in a separate statement on Monday that
he did not “see any benefit in opening further
investigations...which would duplicate current committee
oversight efforts and Intelligence Community inquiries.”)

Trump, by contrast, has said that he does not believe Russia was
involved in the hacking at all, calling the idea “ridiculous” and
has questioned the integrity of the Intelligence Community,
accusing the various of agencies of reaching politically
motivated conclusions.

Russian
President Vladimir Putin gestures during the Business Russia
forum in Moscow, Russia, May 26, 2015.REUTERS/Alexei Nikolsky/RIA
Novosti/Kremlin

Trump has long been criticized for his accommodative stance
toward Russia in general and its President, Vladimir Putin, in
particular. He has downplayed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s
Crimea region and its prosecution of a shadow war in Eastern
Ukraine and has appeared to praise Putin’s authoritarian
style of rule at home.

On Tuesday morning, Trump made the official announcement that he
has chosen Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his nominee for
Secretary of State. Tillerson is said to have a close personal
relationship with Putin and has been awarded the Kremlin’s
Order of Friendship.

“The thing I like best about Rex Tillerson is that he has vast
experience dealing successfully with all types of foreign
governments,” Trump said on Twitter.

However, at a time when Congress is investigating Russian
interference in the presidential election, Tillerson’s Putin
connections may complicate his nomination.

On Monday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, which would have to confirm
Tillerson, tweeted, “"Being a 'friend of Vladimir' is not an
attribute I am hoping for from a Secretary of State."